Inspiron 5160 "no boot sector" message

[raybay]

If you use the sledge hammer, plan ahead so we can all order the film.. some of us do not have the nerve to smash one, but would like to see it on film where we could watch it over and over and over...

 

[astrom33]

Ugggghhhh!!! I borrowed a friend's toshiba samsung TS-L462A optical drive. I put it into my laptop, made the computer boot from the optical drive, but STILL got the "no boot sector found" error message.

Could this be because I was using an optical drive that is different than the one that came with the laptop? If not, any other suggestions as to why I keep getting the error message?

Any way I can install windows on the new drive that I bought without having it physically inside the laptop?

 

[raybay]

If you get the bottom of the line Dell optical drives, you are just about certain to get DVD or CD drives that have unusually high failure rates... But Dell has at least five qualities of optical drives, and some are simply terrific for long life and reliable burns.

 

[astrom33]

PROGRESS!!!!

I removed a hard drive off of my friends laptop and put it into my laptop.

My laptop booted from windows flawlessly. I am just about to insert the windows disk to see if I get anything.

So it seems as though it is definitely the optical drive. No idea why the one from my friends laptop did not work on mine. It worked fine on his.

 

[astrom33]

Well now I know it was the optical drive. I have put in several disks into it now that I have my buddy's hard drive on my laptop, but I cannot read any disk, whether music cd, data cd, or dvd.

I will make sure to get the same exact one as was on there before unfortunately. Just to make sure it works.

 

[raybay]

Is your Toshiba battery up to date... did anything else happen about the time it quit working...
How old is your hard drive, and the Windows version that is on it?
This is a very strange error for all the work you have put into it.

 

[astrom33]

Is your Toshiba battery up to date... did anything else happen about the time it quit working...
How old is your hard drive, and the Windows version that is on it?
This is a very strange error for all the work you have put into it.

1. I am not sure what you mean about my Toshiba battery being up to date. The battery I was using at the time the hard drive died was the original that came with the laptop when I purchased it. I looked on it to see if there was a date stamp but did not find one. All I can tell you is that it is mode no. BATDWOOL.

2. What happened EXACTLY at the time it quit working was that I was surfing the web when the computer just completely froze. I did a cold boot, but then the hard drive started clicking.

3. The original hard drive that was in there was from approximately 2004/2005 when I originally purchased the laptop. I was running Windows XP, but not sure about the service pack. The new hard drive I purchased has a date of Jan. 24 2009.

 

[astrom33]

@!#$%^!@*!!!!!!!!!

I got my new optical drive today and (drum roll..) same "no boot sector found" error message.

Any other suggestions?

Otherwise, I think I will just put in my drive into another laptop and install windows that way.

 

[raybay]

Very unfortunate. If you want to sell it... let me know.
Boot sector is supposed to be on the hard drive... If the cable is bad, Windows cannot find it. If the hard drive is bad, you cannot find it.
But you might try formatting it in another drive...

Is this a SATA hard drive or an EIDE hard drive?
Is the hard drive that is installed the one that was clicking? Or was it the optical drive that was clicking.
Do you have another hard drive to test?
Does the Dell Windows disk start up in the optical drive?
It is possible that the new hard drive was damaged in shipment, or defective?
The next step is to try that drive in another computer... if you have a friend with patience...
Try it in a friend's laptop and format it with the friend's Windows software... then either install Windows there, or put it back in your computer and re-format it, and install windows if it will.
There are few hardware defects it could be... memory, hard drive, motherboard, CMOS batter, or cable...
We have to assume the hard drive is bad until you try it elsewhere...
You could try installing it in a USB enclosure, then formatting it on anther computer using any Windows setup... if it formats, then it should be detected in your Inspiron 5160. If the computer still does not detect the hard drive after it has been formatted in another machine, then you have another potentially serious issue... It all depends upon whether that drive is detected in another laptop, or can be formatted elsewhere.

 

[astrom33]

Very unfortunate. If you want to sell it... let me know.
Boot sector is supposed to be on the hard drive... If the cable is bad, Windows cannot find it. If the hard drive is bad, you cannot find it.
But you might try formatting it in another drive...

Is this a SATA hard drive or an EIDE hard drive?
Is the hard drive that is installed the one that was clicking? Or was it the optical drive that was clicking.
Do you have another hard drive to test?
Does the Dell Windows disk start up in the optical drive?
It is possible that the new hard drive was damaged in shipment, or defective?
The next step is to try that drive in another computer... if you have a friend with patience...
Try it in a friend's laptop and format it with the friend's Windows software... then either install Windows there, or put it back in your computer and re-format it, and install windows if it will.
There are few hardware defects it could be... memory, hard drive, motherboard, CMOS batter, or cable...
We have to assume the hard drive is bad until you try it elsewhere...
You could try installing it in a USB enclosure, then formatting it on anther computer using any Windows setup... if it formats, then it should be detected in your Inspiron 5160. If the computer still does not detect the hard drive after it has been formatted in another machine, then you have another potentially serious issue... It all depends upon whether that drive is detected in another laptop, or can be formatted elsewhere.

Ray:
1. This is an EIDE hard drive.
2. This is a brand new drive. I threw away the one that was clicking.
3. This is the second brand new drive I have tested.
4. The windows disk starts up, but only on OTHER computers not on the one I am trying to repair.
5. It is highly unlikely that the drive is defective or damaged as this is the second brand new HDD I got from Frys.
6. I hit F12 on boot, which took me to a screen where I could choose to boot from a diagnostic tool. It ran the diagnostic test. It passed the hdd test, CMOS, memory test, but after it passed the DST short Status test I received a message "No diagnostic Utility Partition found. To run diagnostics, insert your Dell "Drivers and Utilities" CD, then select OK to restart the system and boot off the CD." Needless to say it could not boot off the utilities CD.

I am going to just put in the new hard drive on my friends computer and format it there and install windows. I know it detected his drive in my laptop so I will just do that.

I'll keep you posted. And THANKS A LOT for all your help.

 

[raybay]

Well, perhaps I have not been much help to you, but I have done my little part to help the economy.
I love/hate little curiosities like this problem you have presented...
We have worked with a large number of Inspiron 5160's in our shop and have not seen any problems of note.
I am hoping that formatting the drive in another computer will allow it to work when back in yours...
Next time you are looking at the BIOS, take a look at the boot order... some Dells have the hard drive as third behind a floppy and an optical drive... this can be changed so your hard drive is first.
When you first attempt to boot, do you get a flash screen where the BIOS is shown at the bottom? If so, tell us what that is.

 

[astrom33]

By the way where are you located? Any way I can get the laptop over to your shop and pay you to fix it? I'm in L.A.

When I first boot I do not get a flash screen. Just a blank screen with a blinking underscore. Then I get the "no boot sector found" error message.

 

[astrom33]

S, U, C, C, E, S, S... That's the way you spell success!!!

I was finally able to install windows on the laptop. It looks like it was two things going on:

1. The optical drive was bad.

2. The windows cd was for some reason nonbootable.

I got another windows cd put it in, fired up the laptop, and viola. Windows started setting up.

What threw me off was the fact that if I put in the windows cd in a desktop I could then go in and open it and it would give me a screen with multiple options. However, apparently this did not mean that the CD was bootable.

 

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